


Peaceful Misery

by tryceratops



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-16
Updated: 2015-10-21
Packaged: 2018-04-26 16:46:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5012248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tryceratops/pseuds/tryceratops
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by a prompt over at Daredevilkink. </p><p>Karen's past has quite literally come knocking on her door. Now she has to deal with it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Knock Knock

**Author's Note:**

> I have such a love for being cruel to Karen when it comes to her backstory, I can't help it! I figure I should put forth as many theories as I can before it is (hopefully) revealed in Season 2!

He hadn’t meant to overhear the first time, it had just been a coincidence.

Matt had been out late at night, as per usual, doing what he did best. He’d stopped a burglary in the building next to Karen’s and had wanted to check in on her, make sure she was alright. Not let her know he was there, of course, he didn’t want to have to explain that, but just check on things quietly.

Her apartment, luckily enough for him, was on the top floor of her building, so he could easily hear inside by just waiting on the roof. He caught a whiff of her cooking something, and though he had a fleeting thought that it was a bit late for that, he quashed it. He knew she had trouble sleeping, after everything she’d been through… She was humming, too. Perfectly content.

He was about to leave, comforted in knowing that she was doing just fine, when someone knocked at her door. The way her heart jumped at the knock, the way she muttered “fuck” under her breath, made him stick around. Just to be sure the visitor was friendly, he told himself.

She hurried to the door and slid the chain out of its holder without even checking to see who it was. She pulled it open and he knew he had to stay. The incredible change in her heartrate, the way her breath caught in her throat, whoever it was she was not happy to see.

She was terrified.

He jumped down from the roof to the tiny ledge outside her bedroom window and pressed himself against the wall. Out of sight, but closer in case he needed to intervene.

“K-kevin?” She stuttered out a greeting. Matt could hear her soft footsteps as she stumbled back and Kevin’s louder, more confident ones stepping inside the apartment, the door closing behind him.

“Hello, Kathleen.”

“Y-you can’t be here.” Panic edging into her voice, “I don’t know how you found me but you need to leave.”

“Or you’ll do what? Call the police? I imagine that will go down very well, Kathleen. Sorry, you’re Karen now, aren’t you? That’s… pathetic.”

Matt was weighing his options, considering how he could explain his presence to Karen if he were to burst in on this right now. If Daredevil were to. But his curiosity won out. He wanted to know who this Kevin was. And why he was calling Karen Kathleen.

He’d never given much thought to Karen’s past, and she’d never told him anything about it. Nothing before Union Allied. He had figured that her past was just something she wanted to keep buried, and he understood. He hadn’t wanted to pry.

But now her past was in her living room, it seemed.

He promised himself he would intervene before things got violent – _if_ things got violent. But he wanted to hear more. For Karen’s sake, of course.

 “Please.” Karen’s voice was certainly pleading, “I don’t have anything you could possibly want.”

“Of course you do. Why else would I be here?”

He could almost hear the force of Karen shaking her head. He could smell the tears that were coming to her eyes. Was it too cruel to let this carry on?

The two of them were in front of her couch now, by the sound of it. Kevin sat, he could hear the springs in the old thing creak under his weight.

“Have a seat and we’ll talk business.”

“Kevin, I don’t know how the hell you found me, but please, don’t do this.”

“Have a seat, Kathleen.” Kevin’s voice was firm, commanding. Someone used to getting his way.

Karen sat almost immediately, a whimper dying in her throat.

“Good girl.” Matt frowned. “Now,” Kevin continued, “I hear you’re working for a couple of lawyers. Good job?"

“Don’t bring them into this.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. Just a soft plea. “They have nothing to do with any of it, they don’t know anything.”

“And they won’t, don’t worry.” Was he touching her? He strained his senses to get a better picture of how they were in relation to each other. “But I need you to do something for me.”

“What?” Anger was tinging her voice now.

“Don’t give me that attitude, Kathleen. I’m giving you an opportunity.”

He could hear her take a deep, shaky breath. Calming herself.

“What do you want?” Softer this time, more malleable.

“They’ve taken on a client recently, a Mister Kane.” He paused, and Karen’s heartrate sped up again. “Unfortunately for them, I need him to lose his case.”

“What?”

“I need Mr. Kane to lose his case. You work for his lawyers.”

“I… I can’t make anyone lose a case.”

“Of course you can. You handle their paperwork, don’t you? Make them, I don’t know, miss a few deadlines, botch some paperwork, overlook some evidence… You can make that happen, can’t you?”

She shook her head vigorously, stopping only when Kevin caught her chin.

“You will.”

“I can’t.”

“If you don’t, they... everyone will find out about who you really are, Kathleen. Your past may finally catch up to you.”

Matt could hear the smirk in his voice.

Karen was openly crying now. Her breath was shaky and shallow and he could almost taste the salt of her tears.

“Little Karen Page. What would they do if they actually knew the first thing about you?”

“Please, don’t ask me to do this.” He had never heard her sound so desperate before.

“I’m not making you do anything, Kathleen. I’m giving you a choice. Make them lose a case, just one, or I will be sure they know every dirty little secret you have tried to hide from them.”

Kevin stood abruptly at that and started for the door, pausing at it. “Oh, and your sister sends her greetings. She does wish you would come home, though.”

Karen fell into full-fledged sobbing at that point, and Kevin let himself out, closing the door behind him.

Matt had a split second to decide what to do, though the choice seemed obvious. As much as he wished he could comfort Karen, he had no way to explain his presence to her, as either Matt or Daredevil. But he could follow Kevin, get a feel for what was going on.

Whatever trouble Karen was in, he wanted to know more.


	2. And More Is Revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karen's visitor returns, Matt and Foggy get suspicious.

The next day at work, Matt was, in spite of himself, surprised to find Karen not in the office.

“Called in sick.” Foggy explained when Matt asked, “Said she was up all night. I didn’t ask for more details.” Foggy made retching noises as he turned back into his own office.

“Foggy?” Matt called out before he shut his door.

“Yeah, man?”

“Have you ever… wondered about Karen?”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s been here for months now, I’d like to consider her a friend, but…” He sighed, “She doesn’t talk about her past. At all. She’ll barely even mention her life when she was at Union Allied, never mind before that.”

Foggy leaned against his doorframe thoughtfully. “What happened?”

“What do you mean?”

“Dude, you promised no more lying to me. She calls in sick and you start up with all this questioning. What’s going on?”

Matt remained thoughtful for a few moments, until he could sense that Foggy was about to speak. “I don’t want to violate her privacy.”

“I wish you could see the look I’m giving you right now, because it is skeptical as hell.”

Matt sighed. “I was by her house last night. She had a visitor who she wasn’t happy to see.”

“And?”

He hesitated only briefly. “He asked her to sabotage the Kane case that we’re working on.”

“Karen would never do that.”

“She objected but… he threatened her. She was scared.”

“Threatened her? How?” Foggy started walking towards him.

“I don’t know. He… he wasn’t calling her by her name though, he called her “Kathleen.” And he said he would tell us everything about her past if she didn’t do it… She was scared, Foggy… Terrified.”

“So you think she’ll do it?”

“I have no idea… But just in case, we need to double check everything she works on regarding the case.”

Foggy nodded slowly. “Are you going to kick the guy’s ass though?”

Matt laughed softly. “I followed him to his hotel. I’m going to keep an eye on him. I need to learn more.”

Foggy sighed. “You know how I feel about what you do. But… honestly if you were to do it to a guy like that I’m not sure I could object.”

* * *

 

That night, Matt camped out outside Kevin’s hotel building, waiting for him to leave. It wasn’t until well after midnight that the man finally exited the building though. Matt stuck to the rooftops but stayed close to Kevin, following him to an abandoned tenement just a couple blocks from Karen’s apartment. He walked up three flights of stairs to the top floor of the building, reaching it just as Matt landed on the roof. There were three other people inside the building, waiting, it seemed, for Kevin.

“Glad you could make it.” One of them said in a deep, gruff voice.

“Of course.” Kevin replied.

“News?” Gruff Voice asked.

“I have it handled.”

“By a scared girl.”

“She’s more scared of me than she is of them. She’ll do what I ask.”

“I still don’t think this is a great idea.” A third voice piped up. Another man, though with a softer voice than the other.

“I will follow through on my promise. Kane will take the fall for it, his lawyers will screw up the case. Our deal will stand.”

“ _If_ Kane loses his case, and I stress the if, then yes, you will get what you asked for. But not before then. I still don’t believe that girl will follow through.”

“If she doesn’t, there will be hell to pay. For her, anyways.” Matt could hear the smirk in Kevin’s voice.

“We will not do business again if this fails.”

“I told you, it’s handled.”

“The trial is in two weeks. These lawyers are surprisingly efficient. You’re leaving the fate of all this in the hands of a girl.”

“She may have run away from us, but she still belongs to me at heart.”

Matt frowned. ‘Belong’ was quite a word to use there. What the hell had Karen gotten herself into?

* * *

 

The next day, Karen was at work, though she was not quite herself.

“Sorry, sorry.” She said as she cleaned up water she’d spilled while making tea for herself. “I think I’m still out of it after… being sick yesterday.” The lie was so painfully obvious to Matt, but he let it slide.

“It’s okay.” He assured her as Foggy knelt to help her wipe it up.

“No, no… I just... I should be better than this.”

“Karen, are you okay?” He asked.

She shook her head and then nodded. “Yeah. No. Sorry, just… just a head cold, I think.”

Matt could tell that Foggy shot him a look, but he couldn’t respond with Karen there.

“You can take the afternoon off, if you want.” Foggy offered after a moment of silence.

“No, I’m fine, I’ll be fine. Sorry for spilling.”

“Karen, are you sure you don’t want the afternoon off?” Matt asked, trying to sound gentle.

“I… I’m fine, unless you want me to leave, of course.”

“No, of course not.” Foggy jumped in. Matt offered her a smile. “We just want you to do what’s best for you.”

“I’m fine.” She forced a smile, “I’ll be fine. No more spills, I promise.”

* * *

 

Five days later, Matt overheard on purpose. He had been following Kevin every night, and paid extra close attention when he came towards Karen’s apartment. Once again, he found himself on a ledge outside her bedroom, listening in on their conversation.

Kevin knocked, entered, and took a seat.

“Before we discuss business, could you be a dear and fetch me a drink?”  Kevin asked, lounging on her couch.

“Get it yourself.” Hatred dripping from her voice.

“Oh honey, that’s no way to talk to me now, is it?”

“Screw you.”

“You know what happened last time that happened.”

“Get out of my house.”

“Is that a ‘no’ on the drink, then?”

“I’ll phone the police.”

“And tell them what, that your husband is in your apartment?”

Matt almost choked. Husband?

“We weren’t legally married.”

“But in the eyes of got we certainly were.”

“Fuck your god. And everyone who believes in him.”

Kevin stood. “Don’t speak to me like that.”

“Get out of my house.”

He stepped towards her. “I allowed you to leave. I gave you freedom. I didn’t press charges when you _shot me_.”

“Didn’t press charges? Youhad me committed!” She retorted, raising her voice.

“For your own protection. And all I ask in return is that you show me some respect and do what I ask.”

“How the fuck is that freedom?”

“Are you trying to protect your friends? Is that what this is about?”

“I’m trying to protect myself.”

“Then protect yourself from your past.” Kevin took another step towards her. Matt tensed. If he moved to raise a hand at her, he would intervene. He promised himself that.

“I’m protecting myself from you.”

“You’re protecting _Karen_ from me, maybe. But you’re not Karen.”

“Yes I am.”

“Karen died a decade ago.”

“Get the _fuck_ out of my house.” Her voice went very low. Matt had never heard her speak like that.

“Or what?”

“If you know so much about me you’ll know what happened to James Wesley.” He could hear the fear in her heart, smell it rolling off her, but she was standing her ground.

“Are you threatening to kill me?”

Matt froze at that. What did Karen have to do with killing Wesley?

“I will do whatever I have to in order to keep what I have safe.”

“If I die, I assure you, everyone will know the truth about you.”

“If what you say is true, they’ll know anyways, as soon as Matt and Foggy win their case. May as well keep you from hurting anyone else in the future.”

He took yet another step towards her, and she didn’t back up. Holding her ground. Was she brave or stupid?  

“They aren’t going to win their case. You’re an unstable, violent girl with an unstable, violent past. You’ve been committed before, and you only stayed out of prison because I refused to press charges. You have almost no ties to the community. I assure you, if you don’t do this, you will never see the light of day again.”

“Get out.” Her voice was soft enough that even Matt had to strain to hear it.

“Excuse me?”

“Get. Out.” She raised her voice.

“Promise me they’ll lose their case.”

“Get. Out!” She was almost yelling now.

“You’re making a mistake.” His voice was soft but firm.

“Then tell them. Tell them about us, about Karen, about the church. I don’t give a fuck, but I’m not going to betray their trust like that. They believe in me, and I can’t let them down like that.”

“And you think they’ll believe in you after all this comes out?”

“No one has ever believed in me before. Not like this. I have to trust they’ll see past it.”

“You are still nothing more than a stupid little girl.” He pushed past her to the door. “And I will make you regret this.”

Matt listened only long enough to hear Karen break down in tears, before darting off to follow Kevin.


	3. The Reveal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More is revealed.

Karen called in sick again the next day.

Matt and Foggy sat across from one another at Matt’s desk at lunch, over takeout Chinese food.

“She’s not going to do it.”

“Huh?”

“Sabotage our case. Karen. She refused.”

“Well that’s good, right?”

Matt hesitated. “He said he’d ruin her. He’d tell us about her past.”

“Yeah, so?”

“I heard some of it last night. She said she’d been committed. By him.”

“Committed? Like an asylum?”

He nodded. “I think so… And she shot him.”

“Wait what?”

“She also… she said something about killing Wesley.”

“Wait, like James Wesley? Like Fisk’s right hand dude?”

Matt nodded again. “We have to stand behind her. Whatever we hear.”

Foggy nodded. “Of course.”

Matt took a bite of his ginger beef and chewed carefully before speaking again. “I think she was married to Kevin.”

Foggy choked on his chow mein. “What?”

“He said he was her husband. She didn’t deny it… Well, she said they weren’t legally married but he said they were in… in the eyes of God.”

“That’s… kind of fucked up.”

Matt nodded once again.

“Should we ask her about it?”

“How would we explain how we knew about it? I… we can’t tell her. Not yet.”

Foggy nodded slowly. “Alright. We’ll wait. And when we ‘find out,’ we stick by her. No matter what.”

* * *

 

Karen showed up the next day, fake happiness all over her voice. She’d even brought in coffee and donuts for them, showing just how hard she was trying to appear like nothing was wrong.

Matt and Foggy sat across the desk from Karen, sipping their coffees, a box of donuts half-eaten on the desk between them.

“Karen…” Foggy started. Matt resisted the urge to kick him in warning.

“Yeah?” She asked, almost absently, still trying too hard to seem normal.

“Is everything alright?”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s just… you’ve been sick and absentminded and I… _we_ are worried about you.”

“Oh…” Fake happiness immediately gone.

“It’s just… we’re here for you, you know that, right? If you need anything. Right, Matt?”

“Of course.” Matt added on, tense at where Foggy was taking this.

“I…. uh, thanks.” Karen said, glancing between the two of them. She sipped her coffee, “But there’s nothing. Like I said, just a cold.”

The three of them fell silent, and she grabbed another donut. After the silence had stretched too far, Karen spoke up again.

“Actually there is something…” She hesitated and sipped her coffee. “I…” She sighed. “If… you were to find out some… not so great stuff… about my past…” Another hesitation, “Would you be okay with it?”

Foggy glanced at Matt and neither of them responded at first.

“What do you mean?” Matt asked finally. He couldn’t let on that he knew anything about what she wanted to say.”

“I… I guess I have something to tell you.” She said. Her breathing was short and fast. She was scared—terrified. “I was approached last week by someone I… I used to know. He wanted me to sabotage the Kane case. I told him I wouldn’t do it,” she hurried to add, “but…. He said if I didn’t… he said he’d tell you about… where I come from, I guess.”

Neither Matt nor Foggy responded to that, leaving her time to process things and move at her own pace. She continued.

“I… god I can’t believe I’m about to say this. I was raised in a cult.” She laughed and set her donut down on her desk. “My parents joined up before I can remember. We lived out on a farm in Vermont. It was… it was messed up. I won’t go into it… I married the leader’s son when I was sixteen, all the girls got married at that age. He had two other wives, older than me. He was twenty five at the time. Two years later… I was eighteen, I had a daughter. And she was amazing, the best thing that happened to me. We named her Karen.” She wiped a tear from her eye. “But when she was four… she got measles.” She shook her head. “I’d never been to a doctor but I knew about them. I begged them to let me take her to one, but they wouldn’t let me. Doctors weren’t part of it, they were… they said they were unclean. So she died.” She wiped her eyes and pulled a knee up to her chest.

“And that was when I knew I had to leave. I couldn’t stay somewhere that would let little girls die like that. Kevin—my husband, he… he caught on though. He tried to stop me… he had a gun. I grabbed it from him, though, and shot him in the foot. I ran away… but he found me a couple weeks later. With the police. Said I’d gone crazy with grief and… I don’t understand the legality of it all, but anyways, I was hospitalized for a couple months. It was that or prison for shooting him.” She shook her head and laughed.

“After that, after I got out, I got used to society, changed my name… took my daughter’s name, that’s kind of fucked up, isn’t it? Got my GED, and next thing I knew, Union Allied was hiring and I decided why not, why not move to New York City?” She shrugged. “And now here I am.”

They were silent for a long time. “Please say something.” Karen finally said quietly, “Please.”

“Why on earth would you think this would change anything?” Foggy asked finally.

Karen hung her head. “That’s… Kevin and his father… they were really into the whole cult thing. I don’t think either of them really believed anything they talked about, but they liked the power of having people follow every word they said. And… and they told us, like I said, everyone else was unclean. Unbelievers. Unworthy. But we could recruit them, if we tried hard enough. He wanted more followers, I guess.

But the way he wanted us to do it, to prove our loyalty to him while also—somehow—recruiting others, was… destructive. We were supposed to destroy places that were competition. Other religious houses, even government buildings… We all had to be involved, I guess so no one person could turn on the others, we’d all be complicit.”

She sighed and sipped her now cold coffee, somehow managing through the knot in her throat.

“I built bombs for them.” She said finally. “Ben… I think he found out somehow. He said he knew about my ‘past antics’ or something… I’m not sure how he found out, but if he did others could too.” She closed her eyes. “And I think that’s what Kevin’s talking about when he says he’ll ruin everything for me. I think he’ll turn me in.”

She fell silent once again and the silence hung around them, thick enough, as they say, to cut with a knife.

“We won’t let that happen.” Matt said finally.

“Huh?” She looked up at him, hiccupping slightly.

“We won’t let him turn you in. And if he does, you won’t go down for it. You were young brainwashed. You’ve already been hospitalized for being mentally unstable, you have a wonderful defence already built up.”

She laughed through her tears. “You’d argue that I’m crazy. And I guess with a murder charge behind me that might be your best option.”

“No, of course not.” Foggy jumped in, kicking Matt under the table. “Not that it will even come to that. We’ll find a way to stop him from coming forward. He’ll incriminate himself if he does, anyways. Put himself at risk. It doesn’t sound like he’d do that.”

“Not without a backup plan. But he’s smart, he’ll think of something, I’m sure.”

“Karen.” Matt interjected, “We’ll protect you. I promise you that.”

She smiled weakly at them both. “Thank you. I appreciate it…” Matt could tell from her tone that she didn’t believe him though.

“Karen.” Matt said more firmly. “We will protect you from this. You’ll be safe with us.” He smiled, “When have we ever let you down?”

She laughed softly, “You’re right,” she wiped her eyes, “I’d be dead without you guys.” And Wesley would be alive, she wanted to add, though of course she didn’t.


	4. And We Meet the Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karen runs into the Devil of Hell's Kitchen once again.

Things were tense after Karen’s big reveal. They stumbled through the rest of the workday, and TGIF, the next day was Saturday. Two more days where they wouldn’t have to tiptoe around each other.

Though Foggy argued that Karen shouldn’t be alone for so long, that she needed support, she needed to know that they were there for her, Matt argued that they couldn’t change everything, that that would just make it weird.

So Foggy had relented and they had parted ways after work on Friday, not to meet again until Monday morning.

Matt did promise Foggy though, in exchange for them giving Karen space, that he would keep an eye on her (so to speak) as Daredevil. Make sure Kevin stayed away from her.

Friday night was uneventful, as was Saturday night. Matt spent most of his time on Saturday night on her rooftop bored out of his mind. He entertained himself by listening to a baseball game on someone’s radio for a while, then eavesdropping on a sitcom someone on the second floor of Karen’s building was watching, and then once everyone had gone to sleep he simply listened to Karen in her apartment. Once again she was up very late cooking, humming softly to herself—it sounded like a lullaby or something.

She was cooking something that was clearly elaborate. There was a creamy garlic sauce over some lightly stir-fried vegetables, and a soup that she’d been working on for at least a few hours. He had been impressed with her cooking the one time she had cooked for him, and the smell of her cooking was certainly appealing. He would have to find a way to convince her to cook for them again. Maybe a dinner party.

It wasn’t until four AM that Karen finally went to bed. She triple-checked the locks on her windows and doors, pulled the curtains, and flicked off the light before crawling into bed. He listened as her breathing softened and finally turned into soft snores. Not irritating ones, but more… cute, he supposed. Cute snores.

Matt stayed on her rooftop until daybreak, when, satisfied that she was safe, he made his way back to his own apartment to grab a few hours of shut-eye.

Sunday night he almost considered not bothering to visit Karen. The previous two nights had been so uneventful, and he did feel a twinge of guilt at violating Karen’s privacy, but his instincts told him he was much better off safe and bored on a roof than sorry, and so he once again got dressed up and made his way over to Karen’s apartment complex.

All was quiet, as usual, though Karen went to bed at two instead of four or five as he’d come to expect.

He was considering leaving, knowing she was safe in her bed when three men entered her building. Immediately he was tense, expecting the worst. They weren’t drunk or conversing with each other, they were all business. Their demeanour certainly set off alarm bells in his head. He slid onto the ledge outside Karen’s window and tested the lock with his fingers. He could probably push it open in about fifteen seconds, but if need be he could break through the glass in one.

The three men, just as he expected, headed straight up to Karen’s apartment. He could hear them stop outside the door and fumble with the three locks she had on it. He deftly unlocked the window from the outside (she really needed better security) and slipped it open, stepping silently into her bedroom.

Karen was sleeping silently, though he wouldn’t quite call it peacefully, not when he could hear her heartbeat racing in her chest. Dream? Or nightmare?

He didn’t have much time to consider it as the intruders slid the chain on her door out and pushed it open. It creaked, but not loud enough to disturb Karen, apparently.

He recognized the cologne of one of the men, now that they were up close. Gruff Voice from the previous week was apparently out doing Kevin’s dirty work.

He waited beside the door to Karen’s bedroom, and clotheslined the first man who walked in. Arm to the throat followed closely by a fist to the stomach, effectively silencing him. Unfortunately, any hope of keeping Karen out of this kerfuffle was quashed when the second guy tripped over the first and cried out.

Karen sat up at once, blanket clutched to her chest, and after a moment of panic began to fumble for her bedside light switch.

Matt, meanwhile, was busy with the second guy who had managed to pull a knife from his boot while tripping. It didn’t take Matt long to disarm him anyways as he jabbed the knife into the guy’s arm and pulled, tearing it down his bicep. The guy screamed in pain and tried to headbutt Matt, but Matt dodged it effortlessly and shoved him to the ground as hard he could.

Gruff Voice, having clearly caught on to the problem he faced, was radioing for backup it seemed (who the fuck used radios anymore, aside from cops?)

Karen, on the other hand, was sitting frozen in bed, clearly absolutely terrified of whatever was going on and either unable or unwilling to move. Not that she’d have anywhere to go. There were two collapsed men and Daredevil blocking her bedroom door and her window led to a five storey drop. Matt kicked the second guy in the jaw just to ensure he’d stay down, and then launched himself at Gruff Voice, first knocking the radio from his hand and then landing a fist directly in his face.

Gruff Voice fought back, and he was better than the other two. A bit, anyways. It didn’t matter, though. It didn’t take Matt long at all to knock him out with a couple good blows to the stomach, one behind the knees, and one to the throat for good measure.

By the way he was wheezing, Matt hoped he had done some serious damage.

He hurried back into Karen’s room as soon as he was done with the three men, to find her still in bed, her heart racing faster than he’d ever heard it before.

“We have to go, now.” He said, trying to keep his voice as gruff as possible. Make it unrecognizable. It had worked last time, when he got the Union Allied information from her, but this time she knew him much better. He hoped it would be enough.

“I—I’m not going anywhere with you.” She stammered. “You need to leave.”

Matt resisted the urge to swear. He didn’t have time for this. “There are more men on their way, do you really want to be here when they get here?”

“What, so I just follow the crazed vigilante who broke into my apartment?”

“Yes.”

“And go where? Do you have a bat-cave or something?”

“Karen, we need to go.” He heard a car pull up outside. Shit, too late. “Now. Or I can’t guarantee your safety.”

“Is that a threat?”

“Ultimatum.”

“I can’t just run off like that!”

“Damnit Karen we don’t have time for this.” He hesitated only for a split second and then walked towards her, reaching up to pull his hood, his mask off.

“Karen I’m trying to help you.”

He could feel her staring at him.

“ _Matt?”_ The disbelief in her voice was palpable.

The men were coming up the stairs. He pulled his hood back on and turned. She (finally) got out of her bed.

“Wait, what the fuck is going on?” she followed after him.

“Stay here.” He held out a hand to stop her as he hurried into her kitchen, grabbing a large chef’s knife from a drawer and standing next to the front door of her apartment.

He made it into position just as the backup –four more men—made their way up the final flight of stairs and shoved into her apartment. With guns. Matt didn’t hesitate, he brought the knife down hard on the wrist of the first man through the door, knocking the gun out of his hand and very nearly severing his hand from his wrist. The man yeowled in agony but Matt didn’t have time to notice, too focused on the second and third men through the door. One of them got a knife to the thigh and then a knee to the face while the second got the knife stabbed straight through his foot, pinning it to the floor. Matt twisted so he could kick him in the face, knocking him over and, if the gush of blood was anything to go by, breaking his nose in the process.

The final guy came through the door once the first three were dealt with, holding his gun tightly. He fired off three shots at nothingness (Karen gasped behind her hands at the first shot, likely surprised by the noise) before Matt came down on him as well. First he knocked the gun out of his hand, then he grabbed the man’s wrist and flipped him over, holding on to his arm the whole time listening with almost a sick pleasure as it twisted out of its socket.

Once he was sure there were no more nearby he walked back into Karen’s room, where she was crouched next to the door, hands over her mouth, heart pounding hard in her chest, fear oozing out of every pore.

“We need to get out of here.”

She just nodded at that one, but didn’t move. He didn’t hesitate, just held out his hand to her. She took it immediately and he pulled her up, guiding her through the bloody, body-strewn mess that was her living room floor and led her outside. Surprisingly (or perhaps not, given the area), none of her neighbours were snooping around. No one had called the police despite the commotion and gunshots. No one was even looking out their peep holes at the two of them.

They hurried down the stairs and out into the street, where Matt quickly guided her into a back alley. Once they were well out of the light of the street and away from any windows, he stopped and pulled his mask off once again.

She stopped, ran her fingers through her hair, and then turned to look at him. “What the fuck is going on? Is this all some kind of sick joke?” There were tears in her eyes, she was trying not to cry.

“I don’t know where to begin.”

“Start with this!” she sounded almost exasperated as she gestured to him. “How the fuck are you….. doing this?” She shook her head, “Do I even know you?” It was painfully close to what Foggy had said when he’d first found out.

“I had to keep you safe.”

“How the hell is this keeping me safe?”

“The less you know the better.”

“So I find four strange men breaking into my house in the middle of the night instead of three?”

“Karen…”

“Matt. What the fuck is going on?”

He took a deep breath, trying to decide where to start. “The accident that I lost my eyesight in… It heightened my other senses. I… I can’t see exactly, but I sense things. A lot of things.”

“Like psycho killers with guns?”

“Yes.”

“And so you just…. What, go around and fight crime?”

“More or less.”

“And break into the apartment of your only employee because, what, you just happened to know some creeps were going to break in?”

“Not exactly.”

“Then what?”

“I promised I’d keep you safe.”

It took her a minute to process this. “So what, you were… watching me?”

“In a manner of speaking.”

“How long?”

“Tonight?”

“Ever!”

“This is only the third night… I started after you told us what happened.”

“And you’ve never done it before that?”

“I…”

“If you lie to me, Matt, so help me god I will kill you.”

“It’s happened twice before. The first night Kevin visited you I’d just happened to be in the area. I’d wanted to be sure that you were okay. And then… I started following him, so when he came back to your place I heard all that too…”

“You… you heard all that?” Disbelief now coloured her voice. “You heard all that and you worked next to me—you all but looked me in the eye and acted like everything was normal?”

“I trusted you, and I knew that you would tell us what you wanted us to know when the time was right for you.”

“I can’t believe you.”

“I’m sorry.” He genuinely meant it.

“Does Foggy know?”

“About you?”

“About you!”

“Yes.”

“Jesus, so you’ve been playing me for a fool… what, since I started working for you?”

“No, of course not.” He was tempted to reach out to touch her shoulder, but something told him that was a bad idea, so he clenched a fist instead.

“So my one boss is blind but not really and is actually the fucking Daredevil and my other one was in on it and no one thought that maybe I should know? Not even after I poured my heart out to you both the other day?”

“Karen…”

“No, really, what, you thought I couldn’t handle it? That I’m, that I was just something to be protected?”

“It was safer for you, not knowing.”

“Sure as hell didn’t feel safer. Especially now that I know you were, what, waiting outside my window all weekend?”

“Rooftop, actually.”

“The point still stands!”

“I’m sorry.”

She sighed and looked down at the ground. “Fuck.”

“What is it?”

“I’m not even wearing any shoes.” She hesitated and then laughed. Just softly at first, but it grew, slowly and steadily until she was almost in hysterics.

“Karen?” He asked slowly, having no idea what was going on. “Are you okay?”

“I—I’m sorry” She managed to get out between bouts of laughter, “I’m sorry it’s just… this is all so ridiculous and I can’t believe it’s happening and I don’t even have my goddamn shoes on.”

“I… guess it is pretty wild, isn’t it?

“You think?” She stifled more laughter. When she had finally collected herself she coughed, wiped a couple stray tears from her eyes, and looked him dead on. “So what’s the plan?”

“What?”

“What’s the plan? Where do we go from here?”

“Oh… I hadn’t thought that far ahead. My place, I guess.”

She nodded carefully. “Your place, then.”


	5. A Little Bit Closer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And awkwardness ensues

Once they were back at Matt’s place, Karen waited in his living room as he changed into some normal clothes. She sat on the couch and pulled her pajama-clad legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them, resting her chin on her knees. Her feet were grubby from walking all the way here without any shoes, and she was hoping to ask Matt to use his shower, and maybe borrow some clothes. But she wanted to debrief first. Her mind was still reeling from his revelation that he was the Daredevil. That he’d heard her talks with Kevin. That he’d been looking out for her.

She had no idea how to feel about any of it. Betrayed? Violated? Comforted? It was all too confusing.

When Matt finally came out of his bedroom, in jeans and a t-shirt, he sat at the opposite end of the couch. Whatever amicability they had had on the walk over seemed to have evaporated. Awkwardness was the feeling filling the room now.

“The car crash.” She said finally, breaking the silence.

“What?”

“The day Foggy said you were in a car accident. And you two fought, that was when Foggy found out, wasn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Jesus, that was months ago.”

“I know.”

“So you just… pretend to be blind when I’m around?”

“I don’t pretend.”

“But you can see! Maybe not like me and Foggy, but you can.”

“Yes.”

“That’s so fucked…” She shook her head and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, “And a really great cover.” She laughed.

Matt smiled softly. “It is.”

“Can… Can I use your shower? And maybe borrow a shirt or something?”

“Of course.” Matt stood and gestured towards his bathroom. “There are extra towels under the sink. I’ll grab you a shirt.” She waited by the bathroom door until he brought her a shirt. She smiled.

“Thanks…” She turned to the bathroom and paused before closing the door. “Matt?”

“Yes?” He was on his way back to sit on the couch but stopped when she spoke.

“What… what do you see?”

He smiled softly. “A world on fire, is probably the best way to describe it.”

“What does that mean?”

“I… can’t explain it much better than that.”

“What about small things? Facial expressions? Things like that?”

“Depends on the expression. I can usually sense emotions, get a feel for things that way. Just a smile is generally harder to detect, but I can if I focus.”

“That’s… kind of messed up, to be honest.”

“I know.” She laughed softly and shut the door.

She stayed in the shower as long as she could stand, scalding her skin pink under the stream of water. She used Matt’s shampoo too, just for an excuse to stay in a bit longer. Unfortunately, he didn’t have conditioner, but she could manage without. She borrowed his soap too, scrubbing her skin.

When she finally got out, she dried herself off and wrapped herself into the towel before brushing her hair with a comb she found on his bathroom counter. She pulled his shirt on and hiked up her pajama pants, and then she hung up the towel on a hook behind the bathroom door and exited into his living room. The rush of cool air after the heat of the shower and the steam chilled her, and she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Thanks.” She said softly. “That was nice.”

“You’re more than welcome.” He offered her a small smile. “I made up the bed for you.”

“I really don’t mind the couch.”

  
“I insist.”

“Well, if you insist.”

“No sneaking out this time.”

She choked back a laugh. “One time.”

“Only time.”

She started towards his bedroom, but paused next to the couch.

“Matt?”

“Yeah?”

“What are we going to do about my apartment? About Kevin?”

“I’ll deal with Kevin.”

“But my apartment. There are like half a dozen wounded guys in there, the floor is soaked in blood. What if someone called the cops on me? There are only so many times I can be found with dead or injured men in my apartment before I get a reputation.”

“That won’t happen. They’re organized, they’ll clean up. They don’t want to get caught anymore than I do.”

“You’re sure?”

“Of course.”

She inhaled deeply and then sighed. “I’m going to need a raise.”

“What?”

“I’m going to have to re-carpet my apartment. Or lose my damage deposit and live with bloody carpets. Either way, I think it’s fair that you help me out with that.”

Matt smiled. “I’ll see what we can do.”

“Thanks.”

She turned into his room and crawled into his bed. Say what you want about Matt Murdock, he had good taste in sheets.

Matt listened carefully to Karen’s breathing until he was certain she was asleep, and only then did he allow himself to lay down and catch some of his own shut-eye.

The next morning was Monday, and Matt was up early, slipping out of the apartment to grab some bagels and coffee for the two of them before work. He came back to find Karen still out like a light, and though he hesitated, he figured she wouldn’t appreciate him giving her the day off, despite the night they’d had.

“Karen?” He called out softly. No response. “Karen?” A bit louder. She shifted in her sleep. “Karen?” Once more, and this time her eyes fluttered open.

“Hmm?”

“It’s almost eight, we should get ready for work.”

She sat up. “Shit, you let me sleep that late?”

He laughed. “Well, since I’m your boss, I can excuse you for coming in late.”

She rolled out of bed and ran her fingers through her hair. “I… I can’t go into work today.”

“Why not?”

“I have nothing to wear, I have no makeup, I don’t even have shoes!”

“I’ll put you in a cab, you can go back to your place, get what you need, and show up to work when you’re ready.”

“I… go back there?”

“No one will be there, I promise.”

“I…” She frowned and then sighed, “Can you come with me?”

He hesitated only for a second. “Of course.”

She offered a smile, not caring that he may not catch it. “Thank you.”

Work that day was tense. They told Foggy everything that had happened, and he had immediately taken to apologizing to Karen for lying to her for so long, pinning all the blame for the lie on Matt (who didn’t object). Karen assured them both that it was alright (though Matt wasn’t entirely sure that was the truth).

Going back to work after that was difficult to say the least. Karen was quieter than usual, not injecting snarky comments into conversations between Matt and Foggy. She didn’t pipe up with thoughts on the documents she was reading or filing, she didn’t offer to make them coffee, she didn’t even bring up the time she caught Foggy singing the Pirates of Penzance in the office, which she did at least twice a week.

Foggy cracked first, coming out of his office just before lunch. “Karen, are you really okay?”

“What?”

“Is any of this really okay with you?”

“Foggy…”

“I’m serious. It’s a lot to take in, I definitely didn’t get over it in one day. And here you are saying everything is okay but not acting like it. How is it really? You need to talk to me. To us.”

Matt cracked his office door open and leaned out, not interrupting but making it clear that he was listening in.

“No.” She said after a long pause. “I’m not okay. None of this is okay. Nothing is okay. A guy I married when I was _sixteen_ tried to have me killed or something last night. The only reason I’m alive is because the guy I work for is secretly a-a superhero or whatever. And then I have to come into work and work on a case that I almost got killed over and try to act like everything is normal. I don’t even know what normal is anymore, but it sure as hell isn’t this. So no. Not really okay.” She put her head in her hands and stared down at the paper on her desk. Foggy opened his mouth to speak but she got to it before him. “Sorry, that was… unfair. This is all just… just a lot to deal with.”

“No, no it’s cool. And you’re totally right, it’s all a lot to deal with… So I have a brilliant plan.”

“That can’t be good.” She muttered under her breath. Matt laughed and Foggy turned to him with a glare.

“I propose,” Foggy continued, “That we close up shop for the day, go pay Josie a visit, and down an eel or ten.”

“That’s a terrible idea.” Karen said with a laugh.

“What problem can’t alcohol solve?” Foggy shot back.

 “Do you want an honest answer?”

“Not even a little bit.” Foggy responded.

“While Josie’s is a terrible idea,” Matt offered, “It might not be bad to take the afternoon off. We can grab lunch somewhere, unwind a bit. Together.”

“Great idea!” Foggy said with a grin and a nod.

Karen hesitated longer and then nodded finally. “Sure. That sounds nice, actually.”

Matt ducked back into his office, grabbing his glasses and cane. Karen pulled on a jacket. Foggy had nothing to do but wait for the two of them, and he held out his elbows, one to each of them. Karen laughed and put her hand in one while Matt smiled and took the other, and together the three of them walked out of the office together.

Not perfect, no, not by a longshot.

But it was something.


End file.
